There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
by Thyme In Her Eyes
Summary: A collection of 1sentence stories exploring Cloud and Aeris' relationship. [Cloud x Aeris, naturally]


There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

by Thyme In Her Eyes

Author's Notes: First off, I own nothing – not the characters, the franchise, or even the title. I'm playing in someone else's sandbox. Anyway, this 'fic is basically a compilation of several single-sentence entries I wrote for the CloudxAerith Forum's 100 Themes Contest. They're all set in the game-verse and aren't chronological. Just lots of random C/A goodness. Hope you like them! All feedback is appreciated too! 

-- THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT --

Loveless

I never understood this movie until I met you; afterwards I couldn't get away from it.

x-x-x

Beginning

As she follows him up and out of the church, Aeris realizes that he helped her for next-to-nothing, and even though he'd been hurt by his fall he'd rushed back into danger for the sake of someone he barely knew (like a genuine hero) and she sees that maybe this is somebody she should get to know better.

x-x-x

Timeless

It's as simple as this: Tifa helps him remember who he is and where he came from, but it's Aeris who shows him where he's going.

x-x-x

Clerisy

(yes, 'clerisy' is a real word!)

****

clerisy: KLER-uh-see, noun. The well educated class; the intelligentsia. 

Everything about their relationship was made of curving smiles, teasing affection, and a heady, unforgettable mix of secrets and impulsiveness that couldn't be analyzed or reproduced, and he'd willingly bet that even the world's clerisy couldn't figure them out.

x-x-x

Date

Considering Tifa's prior claim on Cloud's heroic abilities, Aeris guessed that the kind thing to do was release him from his similar promise to her, but she sorely wanted to continue owing him a date – in fact, she didn't mind the idea of falling deep into debt and having to break even with several dates and maybe a kiss goodnight or two.

x-x-x

Forever

Her skull may be nothing more a shell smoothed by time and resting in the deep bed of the lake by now, but as his hand reaches down and touches the water, he still feels as though she's listening to him.

x-x-x

Serenade

It's not until the morning after that Cloud realizes Aeris spent so much time last night prodding and encouraging everyone to sing at Costa del Sol's karaoke bar that she never got a chance to have her own turn, and he wonders what her singing voice is like.

x-x-x

Water

Water is definitely my element and that's a little tough to come to terms with sometimes; I kind-of flow through and around people, effecting them and encouraging change just by being there and being what I am, but Cloud was always the one person I wanted to leave a _real_ impression on for once.

x-x-x

Worlds

Years passed, and eventually a film came out, which Cloud mildly considered going to see, though that impulse died when he happened to see a trailer featuring her, and although the actress was lovely her voice was all wrong, and worlds away from the Aeris he'd known.

x-x-x

Garden

"If you just respect the earth under your feet, it'll work miracles for you," she'd said when he asked her, in a long-overdue afterthought, about her garden in the slums and, as usual, she tried to downplay her specialness, but he'd always been able to see straight through to it.

x-x-x

Snow

Maybe it's a just coincidence that Sephiroth's trail leads deeper and deeper into a frozen wasteland, or maybe all life and warmth really did leave the world when she died.

x-x-x

Heart

For a while, she wondered about him and half-hoped that somehow Zack had come back to her through him, but weeks go by and the day comes when she realizes once and for all that that he hasn't, and is shocked by the intense relief that fills her heart.

x-x-x

Green

Everything is still and soft here in the jade glow and Aeris smiles in spite of everything, but Cloud's not ready for that and it breaks a small part of him to see her so sure and brave, as she tells him secrets he can't yet decipher, the two of them surrounded by the green leaves inside his mind.

x-x-x

Tickles

It's a quiet day and all that's on the agenda is gathering a few items and collecting hearsay whilst keeping a low profile, but Aeris is the kind of girl who interprets "low profile" as "false names and detailed history" and Cloud chokes on air for a second when she introduces him to strangers as a wandering Chocobo-racer named Clyde, wondering what it is about his reaction that tickles her so much.

x-x-x

Light

"Maybe Holy will be the end of us all, but I can't imagine Aeris praying for it and knowing that, so she must've had hope in us – that's how she is...was."

x-x-x

Family

For some indefinable reason, being with Aeris often brings him thoughts of his mother and the crummy girlfriend speech she gave him a lifetime ago, and he can't help wonder what she would have thought of Aeris, if only she could've met her.

x-x-x

Resurrect

Red dust greets Cloud's eyes as they flutter open; his injuries are healed, his body is refreshed, and he notices that the fight is over and green eyes are peering down at him as a pink mouth smiles and whispers, "Welcome back."

x-x-x

Dress

Aeris remembers the cute red dress she bought at Wall Market and wishes she could've kept it for something as special as her date tonight; not knowing that for Cloud, her eyes and smile were all she ever needed.

x-x-x

Umbrella

"You can stand under my umbrella..." she sings without shame, and Cloud actually finds himself liking that damn song.

x-x-x

Breathless

The first time they meet, she's the first to walk away and disappear into the crowd, and even then his curiosity is piqued and he feels himself wanting to follow, though he can already tell that no matter how hard you try, she's the kind of girl you can never really catch up with.

x-x-x

Soft

Aeris staggers towards the foul-smelling vapor as it clears, and finds a petrified effigy where Cloud used to stand, his eyes no longer vivid blue but stone and dead, and sheer panic smothers her as she ransacks her own bag and fumbles desperately for the antidote.

x-x-x

Ribbon

It broke Tifa's heart with a mangled mix of sympathy and agony to see Cloud so broken, destroyed in body and mind as he trembled and gibbered, and to also realize that even though his right hand might never again lift a sword or hold her own; screwed tightly in its fist, as if it was all he had in the world, was a pink ribbon.

x-x-x

Train

She knows she could die, and thinks a lot about Cloud's train analogy, noting that even if this is unavoidable destiny and she can't go anywhere except where her tracks lead her, her journey has been a happy one and someone amazing and beautiful has been sitting next to her for the last and best part of it, and that's enough.

x-x-x

Endless

The message Aeris left on his phone seemed to go on forever, and maybe her habit of chatting about nothing long after she'd said all that needed saying should have annoyed him, but Cloud couldn't help listening to it all the way through, and even though her never-ending message took up a ridiculous amount of space, he didn't have the heart to delete it.

x-x-x

Kiss

Why is it that every genuine smile he sends in my direction feels like a kiss?

x-x-x

Tea

At last Cloud settles down and sips his tea, but the sudden sound of Shinra arrivals outside force him to rise and give it up, and Aeris catches his eye with a sympathetic look and says, "It's not fair, is it?", and something about the gentle sadness of her tone chills his blood.

x-x-x

Beach

Despite everything Hojo's done to her, Aeris could never bring herself to fully hate him, but as he reclines on the sand and tauntingly asks Cloud to be his guinea-pig, and she imagines all she's been through happening to her blue-eyed bodyguard, the Shiva materia in her staff glows bright and fierce as the sun.

x-x-x

Starvation

Whenever Tifa traveled with another party, Aeris would try her hand at cooking for the group, failing miserably and hilariously every time, but Cloud reckoned it was better than starving – and besides, the smile she served as a side-order made him feel full and satisfied inside in a way no meal ever could.

x-x-x

White

Cloud never tried to avoid Elena's punch and when her fist slams into his nose, making blood gush and his skull ring, he feels nothing as he collapses back into the snow, nothing except distant gratitude for a few minutes' release from grief as a blurred white takes over his vision and carries him from all pain.

x-x-x

Love

One night Cloud half-pleaded with her to explain to him why she stayed, why she took the risk of getting involved, why she followed his words and premonitions and put herself into danger, and why she cared so much, and Aeris simply smiled and said, "Ask me again someday."

-- FIN --


End file.
